REIMAGINING PARTNERSHIPS PREPARED BY: PHILADELPHIA YOUTH NETWORK JULY 2021
REIMAGINING PARTNERSHIPS
WHEN PARTNERS WORK TOGETHER EFFECTIVELY, OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE INCREASE Partnership has taken a more focal role in our collective success as we rebuild connections to school, return to work and deliver social services to young people. PYN has always relied on partners to accomplish our vision -- to alleviate poverty and promote equity through education and employment. One of the greatest gifts of partnership is sharing the journey with others who care deeply. This past year has underscored the true value of effective partnerships, sustainable results, and longterm impact. As we face the unknown future together, our partnerships will continue to support our work and uplift the young people of Philadelphia. PYN is fortunate to be at the nexus of widely diverse partners, resulting in a system of services that has created employment and education opportunities for over 250,000 young people. In the most challenging of times, partnership breeds creativity, new strategies, and ultimately, new ways to achieve and sustain impact.
WORK EXPERIENCES WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE DEDICATED COMMITMENT OF:
EMPLOYERS who partner to host and hire young people COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE PROVIDERS who support youth as they learn and practice job-keeping and job-seeking skills PRIVATE AND CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY whose financial investment helps sustain and grow the technology, core services, and research that fuels continuous improvement ELECTED AND APPOINTED LEADERS who leverage policy and align financial investments so that common goals are achieved despite limited resources COMMUNITY AND CIVIC-MINDED INDIVIDUALS who generously donate time, leadership, and financial contributions to ensure that the needs of young people are met At the core of all our partnership is a common goal to ensure young people have access to education and employment experiences that expands their knowledge of the world of work, introducing them to an adult who cares about their development and future goals, and allowing the young person to develop critical leadership, self-direction, teamwork, and communication skills. We know that these skills are valuable, and will prepare young people for any career choice they make in the future.
*Click the links above to see a full list of our partners
REIMAGINING PARTNERSHIPS
INNOVATIONS
This past year, we have had to rethink our role in partnerships, leveraging our expertise, data and insights to propel our work forward. To ensure that young people were productively engaged in services with little disruption, PYN examined our approach to partnership and discovered new ways of engaging key stakeholders to achieve collective impact.
ENHANCING COMMUNICATION We opted for intimate, consistent communication to ensure that all partners were informed of the progress and the challenges we were facing. We invited stakeholders to give us feedback, one-on-one, in groups and through surveys. The critical feedback wasn't always easy to hear, but it led to growth and system enhancements. What we learned helped us create video tutorials, new training materials and launch a program locator tool to better serve young people.
GENERATING & RETAINING SUPPORTERS
In 2020, like many nonprofits, there was a decline in revenue to support youth employment experiences. The expertise of our partners led to the creation of new strategies to reach more individual donors, as well as retain and expand employer partnerships. The work of the Philly Summer Youth Employment Cabinet helped us to identify and grow champions to support our work. This is just one example of the power of partnerships! The philanthropic sector’s overwhelming support of the Philly Summer Job Fund and the consistent commitment of employers across the region made it possible to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.
EMPLOYER INVESTMENTS YOY $1,000,000
$750,000
$500,000
$250,000
$0
2018
2019
2020
2021
LEVERAGING INDIVIDUAL STRENGTHS We used a “divide and conquer” approach to leverage the strength of our partners. Together we launched a new E 3 program, expanded year-round employment programs through School-Year Internships, and restored summer employment levels to prepandemic totals. Our partners gave strong guidance as we planned or services in a dynamically changing world. They leveraged their expertise in response to our plans. Their insight helped to prioritize and execute the best strategic approach and to monitor progress and adjust plans as we implemented new programs.
REIMAGINING PARTNERSHIPS
LESSONS LEARNED After more than 20 years of partnership, we have learned critical lessons that inform our efforts to sustain a system of diverse education and employment experiences:
IDENTIFY THE WIN-WIN-WIN MOMENT
The win-win-win moment is the unique space where all interests and goals overlap. We see diversity in our partnerships because we believe that many perspectives lead to a rich and rewarding result. However, navigating to a common goal from different vantage points can be challenging at times when we agree on the result, but disagree on the path to achieve the result. In partnership, it is important to hear all voices and tune your ear to the clues that illuminate synergy rather than discord.
DON’T ALLOW DISAGREEMENT TO IMPEDE PROGRESS
We recognize that with many partners comes many perspectives. Rather than seek to be right, we choose to pursue results that create greater impact. This may mean taking a back seat, foregoing accolades, or fostering compromise to move forward. Partnering with others requires
all to let the common goals drive action -- not ego, power, or position.
Each partner brings value to the solution, and it is important to honor that value as you negotiate the strategy and tactics to achieve impact.
LEVERAGE THE STRENGTHS OF OTHERS WHILE NAVIGATING MINEFIELDS AND GROWTH POINTS.
When two or three partners are strong in one area, build from that strength. Through collective planning and sequenced actions, we considered who was best positioned to lead and who is best positioned to support and/or reinforce the action. Leveraging unique strengths allowed each partner to play a role in achieving the result, which is the ultimate definition of a successful partnership.
REIMAGINING PARTNERSHIPS
IMPACT AND OUTCOMES
In a time when economic downturn led to record job loss, preserving youth employment pathways was critical to addressing poverty and ensuring an equitable recovery. The collective talent and collaborative approach of our partners was essential to sustain the vital employment experiences all youth deserve. Reimagining partnership has allowed us to build momentum and sustain our efforts to help young people find and explore career interests.
WE ARE PROUD TO SHARE THAT OUR PARTNERS HELPED ACHIEVE RESULTS:
80 PROGRAM
PARTNERS
36 EMPLOYERS
FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED SUMMER JOBS (this is more than double last year)
MORE THAN 100 SUMMER PROGRAM OPTIONS
23
OUR EMPLOYER NETWORK TOTALS MORE THAN
EMPLOYERS DIRECTLY SERVED YOUNG PEOPLE
45
THE PSJF HELPED US
RAISE MORE THAN $16M TO SUPPORT SUMMER JOBS
50
PUBLIC, PRIVATE, OR PHILANTHROPIC ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORT OUR WORK
MORE THAN 12,000 YOUNG PEOPLE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN WORKREADY SUMMER
*Percentage based on total dollars raised as of 7/1/2021.
REIMAGINING PARTNERSHIPS
IMPACT AND OUTCOMES CONT'D
We are especially proud of the many ways our partners helped introduce new approaches to reach and support young people. When traditional in-person services were disconnected and disrupted, our partners focused on learning and sharing the best practices needed to communicate with youth and their families. Partners helped ensure young people were aware of opportunities and streamlined the processes for accessing them. They made innovative improvements to eligibility, safety protocols, and youth preparation. The results were clear. Philadelphia's young people were prepared to participate in workforce experiences even during economic downturn and recovery. Partnerships are a cornerstone of every PYN effort. Greater impact is achieved when we choose to collaborate and connect our strengths, and this is evident in our impact this year. It takes the collective action of many dedicated partners to employ 8,000 young people during the summer and over 1,000 young people during the school year or beyond. In 2020, partnerships helped achieve record contributions, opportunities, and impact. As we look to the future of work and keep our mind on the economic impacts of the pandemic, we know that the importance of our partnerships will continue to grow, and so must our focus on sustainable solutions to best serve Philadelphia’s young people.
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